


Red Velvet Cake

by Virage



Category: Kara no Kyoukai | The Garden of Sinners
Genre: Breasts, Drinking, Drunk Driving, F/F, Flirting, Insults, Kissing, Party, Undressing, Yuri
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:40:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28834278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Virage/pseuds/Virage
Summary: Touko begs Shiki to be her date at yet another grand opening of Touko's new studio or art gallery or parking garage, Shiki couldn't remember which it was. Bored, Shiki tries acting like an actual date instead of just nursing her drink for the evening, but Touko is more than receptive to her advances.
Relationships: Ryougi Shiki/Aozaki Touko
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	Red Velvet Cake

Shiki gave the bartender a dirty look when he filled her cup with another hit of cheap sake. The plum flavor was hardly noticeable over the alcoholic burn as it went down her throat. Touko had dragged her to another party celebrating some studio or art gallery that had just opened, whose architecture was penned by Touko herself. When Shiki suggested that Touko bring Azaka instead, she was told that many guests at the previous party had asked about the cold beauty in the kimono. Therefore, Shiki would go as her eye candy; and besides, Azaka was underage. To get her revenge, Shiki had immediately gone over to the bar and became acquaintances with its stock, but the liquor began to sit harshly in her empty stomach. The food had too many legs and shells and eyes for her taste, which considered a soup served in a styrofoam cup to be a decent meal. Bored, she looked at the vapid faces of the other guests. Their sheep-like countenances betrayed the fact that they had no idea an entire world of magic and ghouls existed right under their noses. Well, Shiki lived most of her life ignorant of this underworld as well, until she was hit by a car and met a rather strange speech therapist. She thought back to her time in the hospital, when she tried to gouge out her own eyes to stop seeing the horrors that walked the halls, and stopped talking since there were no words to describe the unspeakable. In the darkness, she could only hear Touko's voice, and smell her faint perfume, and feel the warmth of her hand on her own and the soft touch of her fingertips against her cheek. The first word that Shiki uttered to her speech therapist was a profanity, followed by a croaked request to leave. But Touko kept coming back, and began to explain that the things Shiki saw after her arrival at the hospital were real beings with malevolent intent, and that she could teach Shiki how to fight them. Every time she visited, Touko would leave just as Shiki's interest would pique, leaving her hungry for more information. Shiki had thought that her father's criminal underworld was scary enough, but at least those thugs were men that could be killed. And now this woman was trying to explain that Shiki could see death itself? It all seemed so ridiculous. But sometimes, in the morgue-like silence of the hospital at night, Shiki would try to imagine a face to put to that voice, and a body, and breasts, then she would slip two fingers inside her gown and give the nurse a reason to change the sheets in the morning. When Shiki's bandages were finally removed, she was rather surprised to see that her therapist looked… rather like a therapist, or perhaps some kind of antiques dealer, with her smart pantsuit and no-bullshit-please smile. But Touko's eyes were what really caught her attention. Shiki had spent enough time around her father's associates to know that one could tell a lot about a person by looking in their eyes, whether it was a look of murderous intent on the face of a soldier about to show someone what happens when they don't pay, or the look of animalistic desperation on a junkie who needs another hit but only has lint in his pockets. But behind her stylish, frameless glasses, Touko's eyes were like rubies set in the face of a doll; only reflecting the world around them without giving up anything about the owner's intentions. It was only when Shiki saw Touko with her glasses off, casting spells with a lit cigarette that she realized those red eyes could burn like an erupting volcano. Therefore, she thought it best to accept Touko's offer of employment, rather than get on her bad side. Plus, she needed the money.

But still, Shiki would rather be fighting hordes of brainless zombies than dealing with the mindless living. Someone awkwardly tried to talk to her; she just ignored them and got up. She looked around the room, but Touko was easy to spot in her black dress and sparkling orange jewelry, talking to a pair of fashionably-dressed women. A cramp in her leg caused Shiki to stumble, then a spot of dizziness made her think that perhaps that sake wasn't so watered down after all. She was already a little unsteady in her sandals; she was glad that Touko didn't try to stuff her in a dress and heels like herself. The crowd parted for her, and as Shiki got closer, she could see that Touko was speaking to a foreign-looking blonde woman whose hair was done up in comically oversized curls. Her form-fitting blue dress showed off her impressive physique. If she wasn't a professional athlete, then she could give one a run for her money. Standing next to her was an Asian woman with long, luxurious black hair, and her face wore a mask of extreme boredom. This woman's red dress was more modest, but the tone of her bare arms told Shiki that she worked out daily.

Touko was explaining something about architecture, and the blonde woman nodded amicably but her clenched jaw showed that she clearly had no idea what was being discussed.

"I know the current trend emphasizes postmodernism, but I believe Gothic is better suited for a performance space such as this," Touko said. "As you can see, the arches overhead help create a feeling of both strength and openness." She pointed to the ceiling overhead. To Shiki, it just looked like any other ceiling, except perhaps with more perches for one to leap onto one's prey from above. Shiki's attention was drawn to Touko's mouth, as she talked. Her crimson lips and perfectly white teeth were rather impressive, considering how many cigarettes she smoked.

Shiki could tell that the blonde woman was having extreme difficulty following the conversation from knitted eyebrows and furrowed brow. Whether that was because of a language barrier or the blonde's limited intelligence, she wasn't sure. Shiki's gaze began to wander once more, and she locked eyes with the brunette, who seemed to be checking her out. Intrigued, Shiki locked eyes with her. The other woman's eyebrows shot up like darts, then she quickly looked aside, a crimson shade spreading across her cheeks.

"But I must say, your date is certainly handsome," the blonde suddenly said, brightly. "I don't see many men wearing your culture's traditional dress. And what a beautiful pattern!" Shiki felt Touko's arm immediately wrap around her waist.

"I know, right?  _ She _ can certainly rock a kimono!" Touko said. Touko clumsily pulled Shiki towards her, then kissed her sloppily on the lips. It was a quick embrace, but lasted long enough that Shiki could taste the alcohol on Touko's breath, which was flavored with the sour taste of the hors d'oeuvres Touko had spent the evening snacking on. Shiki's nose pushed Touko's glasses up, and she could smell a hint of floral perfume. A warm, tingling feeling traveled down Shiki's spine, completely different from the empty iciness that she felt whenever she used her eyes. It was a new, unfamiliar sensation, and she wasn't sure if it was something dredged up from the cold depths of her heart, or if the long-deceased male personality that dwelled inside her was awoken by being so close to the attractive Touko. Either way, it ended far too quickly for Shiki's taste, and she belatedly realized that she hadn't even closed her eyes. So much for looking smug in front of their new acquaintances, who looked more embarrassed than Shiki was capable of feeling.

"W-Well, we'll leave you two to enjoy the rest of the party! Toodles! Come, Rin!" The blonde quickly rushed off, grabbing her guest by the wrist. The sound of their heels clacking against the floor echoed off the walls.

"Wait! I haven't even told you about how the interior dimensions are larger than the exterior ones!" Touko said with exasperation, while she pushed her glasses back onto her nose. She clucked her tongue. For Shiki's part, she was glad the two well-dressed guests took their leave, because Touko started a fire that Shiki only wanted to stoke.

"It's too bad you didn't get a chance to talk about the water main you broke," Shiki said, forcefully wrapping her hand around Touko's hip and pressing herself up against the older woman's side. Touko tutted.

"The construction went off without a hitch, thank you very much," Touko said. Shiki licked the side of Touko's neck, dragging her tongue from the tip of the collarbone to the bottom of her jaw. A dangling earring brushed against her nose, and she could taste perfume at the back of her throat.

"Is that so? Because I'm awfully wet over here," Shiki said, planting a gentle kiss on the tendon on the side of Touko's neck. Well-plucked eyebrows raised on the faces of the other guests, but Shiki paid them no mind.

"Oh? Did that brunette spill her drink on you? Because don't think I haven't seen the way you look at girls with long, black hair." Touko squeezed Shiki's ass through her kimono.

"Hmph. Who said I limit myself to just one color?" Shiki said, whispering into Touko's ear. She gently nibbled on her earlobe. "If you take pride in your work, then I think you should finish what you started." Shiki punctuated her sentence by reaching across Touko's chest, making sure to brush her arm against Touko's breasts. She plucked the glass of wine out of Touko's hand and downed the contents in one gulp, before placing the lipstick-stained glass on the tray of a passing server.

"You should know by now that not even death will prevent me from finishing a job," Touko said. 

"I don't plan on going  _ that _ far," Shiki huffed. "Let's get out of here, and you can show me that you're not all talk." Shiki took Touko's arm in her own as they walked through the crowd. It was a good thing too, since being tipsy in heels meant that Touko was often pressing herself up against Shiki for support.

"Normally I'd ask your place or mine, but I don't quite fancy getting it on in a morgue, so let's go back to my house," Touko said, as they left the noise of the crowd behind and excited into the warm night air.

"I prefer living frugally," Shiki said. "It's not like I have a choice, because you're such a stingy bastard. I'm not exactly keen on those creepy puppets in your house. Hey, are you alright to drive?" Touko tripped on a crack in the pavement and leaned hard into Shiki's side.

"Sure, I've done… I've been through worse," Touko said, fishing her car keys out of her purse. "I don't keep puppets in my bedroom, that would be weird."  _ Hic _ . 

"If you say so. Just remember, only one of us dies if she is killed." Shiki used the curving bodywork on the side of the large sports car for support as she walked around to the passenger side. Was this thing even legally registered in Japan?

"Ara? Oh, that's right, I couldn't transfer all your memories into your doll body when Asagami killed you," Touko said. She lowered herself into the driver's seat. "I did mess around a bit with your preferences, though!"

"Fuck you, that's not funny. You know I have enough problems with my head as it is." Shiki uncomfortably folded herself into the sport bucket seat. Hard bolsters poked at her hips and back. Touko leaned forward, dropped the keys, cursed, fumbled around on the floorboard, hit her head on the steering wheel, cursed again, then put the key in the ignition. The V12 came to life with a throaty rumble. Shiki slid the right sleeve of her kimono up and looked at her bare arm under the harsh orange glow of the sodium vapor lights in the parking lot. Didn't she have a small scar, about 5 cm from her elbow, where she was cut by glass at the hospital? She ran a finger over the flawless skin. Was her left arm the only obvious part of her doll body? The too-bright lights swam in her vision. Her head hurt, and she had the terrible feeling that she was about to remember something that she shouldn't, or couldn't, or that the very realization would cause her to go insane. Touko lit a cigarette, then reached over and put the car into gear. Shiki felt white-hot rage boiling up inside her, angry that she allowed Touko to get her so upset with just words, when she was able to face down her enemies with an expressionless mask. She felt like a marionette, dancing when Touko pulled her strings.

"Fuck you. Stupid puppet bitch." Shiki punched Touko's arm.

"Knock it off, driving is hard enough as it is," Touko said, her voice muffled by the cigarette dangling between her lips. Shiki looked at her face in profile, the green light from the dashboard reflecting off her glasses.

"Filthy crimson. Unwashed scarlet."

"Careful, or the next time you come in for a tune-up on your arm, you'll wake up with a male appendage attached to your elbow." Touko exited the parking lot and turned onto the deserted city streets.

" _ Christmas cake. _ "

If Touko said anything in response, it was drowned out by the roar of the engine. The sudden acceleration harshly threw Shiki into her seat. The quickly-passing streetlights formed a kaleidoscope in her blurry vision, causing her to squeeze her eyes shut. It was almost as disorienting as the vision from her Mystic Eyes. Tires squealed when Touko took a corner far too fast, and Shiki's stomach made a backflip in response. She curled up in the fetal position in the hard seat, her unbridled joy at the thought of making a mess inside Touko's car just barely overmatched by her desire not to ruin her kimono.

One roller coaster ride later, the car finally stopped, but Shiki's head still swam with its own momentum, like a spinning top that began to wobble before falling down. She reached for the door handle with shaking hands and crawled out of the vehicle.

"That was worse than any of the monsters you've made me dispose of," Shiki said, leaning up against the side of the car as she caught her breath. They were in the ruined first floor of the Garan no Dou, which Touko used as an informal garage since the one side had no walls.

"Come now, calling Asagami a monster is pretty mean," Touko said with a burp. She stomped out her cigarette, then wobbled over to a rickety staircase. Shiki had only ever used the outside staircase to access the office on the first floor, so she could only imagine what kind of bizarre artifacts and failed experimentees littered the halls of what could be charitably described as Touko's house. After all, the office itself could induce nightmares on its own, with its wall of old televisions. She wondered where Touko kept her spare bodies, as she followed her host up the stairwell and through a doorway that was bereft of an actual door.

"I'm home!" Touko said, and Shiki wondered if she was being facetious, or greeting some grotesque familiar. Perhaps she automated one of her doll bodies to serve as a maid.

Shiki looked around at the darkened living area, surprised at how normal it seemed. Relatively speaking, anyway. Magazines lay scattered on a coffee table next to a vinyl record of a popular Enka singer, and a tower of books sat next to the couch. She recalled that the… thing that Touko kept in her suitcase could drive people insane just by looking at it. What kind of interior decorating sense would such a person have? The stench of cheap tobacco hung heavily in the air. "I just realized that I could tell you to go fuck yourself, and you would have the means to do so," Shiki said. She scratched her nose.

"Who said I don't?" Touko said. She walked into the small kitchen and opened the fridge, the light the only source of illumination in the dim space.

"I figured it would be easier to just call your sister over."

"Bah. That witch? I have better taste than that. Were those hags at Reien still spreading nasty rumors about me?" Touko said, her head in the fridge. "You want a beer?"

"Water's fine." The story behind Touko's strained relationship with her sister was a black hole to Shiki, who was only aware that it had something to do with colors and recognition of talents. Touko's yearbook picture from Reien flashed in her mind, from when she infiltrated the school with Azaka. Touko had looked like a nerd back then. She stepped into the kitchen and accepted the cold bottle, unscrewing it with a hand that might not be her own. She was struck by how domestic this felt, standing in another person's kitchen like this, as if unwinding after a date. The water washed the acidic taste from her throat. Touko drained the beer, then crushed up the can and threw it in the sink. Shiki turned to look out the window at the night cityscape, but a hand seized her jaw and forced her face towards Touko, who roughly pushed her up against the fridge. Bottles rattled when Touko leaned her body weight against Shiki and sloppily kissed her. The taste of cheap beer entered Shiki's mouth when Touko's tongue pushed between her lips. Something sharp and hard poked into Shiki's back, probably the door handle on the fridge. The water bottle fell to the floor, its contents spilling around their feet. Touko's breath was hot and tasted of tobacco, as her tongue dragged itself across Shiki's teeth. Shiki had to remember to breathe through her nose. Normally, she would react violently to such a sudden assault, but being taken like this felt new and refreshing, even if Touko's nails were digging painfully into her jaw. When the kiss ended, Shiki was left wanting more.

"Let's take this into the bedroom," Touko said, taking Shiki by the hand and leading her into a darkened room. "I'll show you I always fulfill a contract."

Touko's bedroom was filled with weird knickknacks and bizarre furniture. Ah, so here’s the weird stuff repository. Touko turned on one of those lamps that looked like a human leg, and Shiki gave it better than even odds that it was actually made from a real human leg. At least Touko spoke the truth, and there were no puppets to watch them sleep. Touko gently pushed Shiki onto the overstuffed bed, then sat beside her and swung her legs into Shiki's lap.

"Take my shoes off." Shiki fumbled for the clasp in the dim light, and it didn't help that she was wholly unfamiliar with Western footwear, but she was able to slip them off her feet and unceremoniously toss them onto the carpet. She slid her hands across the smooth skin of Touko's feet. Touko quietly giggled, then sat up and took her glasses off and her hair down. Shiki was always struck by how much Touko's looks would change depending on her hair. Up, she looked like a brilliant, if eccentric, designer. Down, she turned into a sexy librarian. Shiki wondered if her attraction to her boss was something Touko planted in her mind somehow, but she wouldn't want to throw these thoughts away.

"Alright, let's get that thing off you," Touko said, sticking a finger in Shiki's obi.

"Do you even know how? When was the last time you wore a kimono? Before the Meiji Restoration?" Shiki said, standing up.

"Hush, or I'll make you into my next doll body," Touko said, standing behind Shiki and gently undoing the various knots. "You know, I've been thinking about getting a body with less hours on the clock." She was standing close enough that Shiki could feel her breath on the back of her neck. Shiki probably should've guessed that a puppet master would be good with her hands, but she was still surprised by how quickly Touko unwrapped her like a package. She wasn't ashamed of her body, but it was still a bit strange to be standing in front of her boss in her underwear like this. Suddenly mindful of her breasts, she stepped out of her sandals, then reached down and undid her tabi socks. Touko looked her up and down, as if appraising a model. 

"Don't get any ideas. I don't have any more room inside my head for another personality," Shiki said.

Touko laughed. "Alright, my turn," she said, turning around and holding up her hair. Shiki was confused for a moment, until she saw the zipper at the top of the dress. She pulled it down, and stood back so Touko could step out of it. Shiki wasn't expecting the dress to have built-in cups, so she was surprised when Touko turned around and greeted her with bare breasts. They were beautiful, and perfectly perky. Realizing that she was now the one staring, Shiki looked askance as Touko took off her panties and threw them in a corner. At least she didn't throw them in the sink, as Shiki had a bad habit of doing.

"Are you going to take yours off, or do I have to use my imagination?" Touko said, yawning as she sat on the edge of the bed. Shiki did as she was told, leaving herself as nude as the day she was born. Touko gently pushed her onto the bed and straddled her. It was a different experience, being on bottom like this, but Shiki didn't mind.

"Do you make all your employees do this?" Shiki said.

"No, just the ones I like." Touko pinched one of Shiki's nipples and rolled it between her fingers. Shiki moaned, despite herself. Touko lowered herself onto Shiki and kissed her deeply. Shiki could feel Touko's breasts pressing heavily onto her chest, their stiff nipples rubbing against each other and growing harder from the contact. When they separated, Shiki reached up and hefted Touko's breasts in her hands, surprised by their firmness and weight. Touko traced a finger down Shiki's collarbone to her stomach, the orange nail leaving a thin pink line in its wake. A warmth began to spread from Shiki's stomach to down her groin. Touko lowered her face to Shiki's crotch, her red hair draped across muscular thighs. Shiki felt a few tasting licks on her sensitive skin, and it felt like those magical butterflies from Reien were floating around in her belly. Warm lips kissed her button, and she wondered if Touko left a lipstick mark down there. She wondered what Touko's lines would look like if she used her Music Eyes, and what would happen if she actually cut them. Would Touko reincarnate, or would she be forcibly torn from her self-imposed immortality and returned to the Root? She closed her eyes, drinking in the sensations, and the feeling of a wet tongue inside her. The touches slowed down, then stopped. She opened her eyes.

"Hey, don't leave me hanging here. Don't tell me you need to go have a smoke or something," Shiki said, annoyed that the warm feeling was ebbing away. She squeezed Touko's head between her thighs, but received no sarcastic reply. Lifting Touko's head revealed that she had fallen fast asleep.

"... Geez."

Shiki got out from underneath and dragged Touko up the bed, resting her head on the pillow. She made sure to rest Touko on her side, lest she choke on her own vomit and wake up in another room. After pulling the satin sheets over them both, Shiki turned off the weird leg lamp. She wrapped her arms around Touko, and closed her eyes, imagining what it would be like to have a normal girlfriend, in a normal life. But she thought, as sleep overtook her that this life perhaps wasn’t so bad.


End file.
